Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan on Friday expressed opposition to any military intervention aimed at forcing Iran to halt its controversial nuclear program, Xinhua reported.
"The problem over Iran's nuclear issue has to be resolved through diplomacy. Methods other than that would have grave consequences for the region and even for the world," Babacan said during the Aspen Bosphorus Dialogue conference.
He added that diplomatic channels must be exploited as far as they can go. "Otherwise no one will gain from this confrontation."
Turkey was strongly against nuclear weapons in its region, the deputy prime minister said, adding that Iran need to act more transparently and cooperate more with international institutions.
"The G5+1 (five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany) should really focus on a diplomatic settlement and sincerely work to that end," Babacan said.
Israeli officials have said that they may feel compelled to strike Iran before its nuclear program becomes effectively impregnable by sheltering its key uranium-enrichment facilities in a fortified complex under hundreds of feet of granite in a mountainside.